Drums are percussion-based musical instruments that produce sound when struck. The sound elicited from drums and other percussive instruments is often utilized to create or contribute to the rhythmic section of musical compositions. Accordingly, drums are a central feature of many musical groups' and solo artists' musical acts. Traditionally, drums have existed as membranophones, i.e., musical instruments which produce sound primarily by way of vibrating a stretched membrane. As such, many known drums often comprise at least one membrane, commonly referred to as a “drum head” or “skin”, stretched over a hollowed shell. Often times, the drum head is secured in relation to an open end of the shell by way of a tension ring, commonly referred to as a “hoop” or “rim”, that is positioned over the drum head and which may be drawn downwardly toward the shell using one or more tension screws or other tightening mechanisms. By tightening the tension screws the drum head is stretched and the tension of the drum head is increased, thereby producing a higher pitched sound when struck. Conversely, by loosening the tension screws the drum head draws inwardly upon itself such that the tension of the drum head is decreased, thereby producing a lower pitched sound when struck. For some drums, such as djembes, the tension of a drum head may be increased or decreased by other tightening mechanisms, such as rope, however, the pitch of such drums is affected in the same manner as those with tightening screws. Accordingly, for traditional drums, the pitch of the sound emitted from a drumhead when struck is generally dependent upon the extent to which the drum head is stretched over the shell, and thus can only be altered by increasing or decreasing the tension of the drum head. In turn, as the tension of a drum head is generally manipulated by tightening or loosening the tightening mechanism of the drum, the pitch of sound elicited from the drumhead cannot be readily manipulated while the drum is being played.
A variety of non-membranophone drums, such as steel or wooden tongue drums, are known. The pitches of sound exhibited by such instruments, however, generally cannot be manipulated because the tonal elements that produce sound when struck are embedded in a fixed position within the instrument's body. U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,696 to Richard A. Water discloses a tonal percussive instrument, more colloquially referred to as a “waterphone”, that can utilize water movement to affect the pitch of the sounds produced thereby when struck or bowed. Water is generally introduced into waterphones by pouring a desired amount of water in through an elongated neck and into a resonator chamber such that the water pools at the base of the chamber. In waterphones, the resonator chamber is enclosed except for a small aperture that provides passage from the instrument's neck to the resonator chamber. As such, the water contained within the resonator chamber is not generally visible.
Cymatics is the process of making sound waves visible. In cymatics, the visualization of sound may be achieved by vibrating a surface on which a deformable medium, such as water, is disposed. As the surface vibrates, regions of the surface exhibiting maximum and minimum displacement are made visible by the deforming medium. Depending on the nature of the vibration exhibited by the surface, the deformable medium may form visually pleasing designs or patterns which, in some instances, may cause observers thereof to experience feelings of calm. Although the water utilized within waterphones may sometimes be deformed in response to vibrations created during the playing thereof, the patterns and designs resulting from such deformities are not visible due to the generally closed design of the waterphone.
New apparatuses, systems, kits, and methods for a percussive instrument that permits users to view the patterns or designs exhibited by a deformable medium contained therein and that enables users to vary the pitch of sound elicited from the instrument during the playing thereof are described herein.